The present invention relates in general to a wall tile spacer, and more particularly, to such a tile spacer for use in leveling both regular and irregular wall tiles and the like.
In the installation of tiles, for example ceramic wall tiles, it is desirable that the tiles be level with each other to form a uniform pattern such as rows and columns. Otherwise, the esthetics of the tiled area will be greatly impaired by the lack of uniformity in the pattern. The levelness and pattern uniformity of the installed tiles is often achieved by adjusting the spacing between individual tiles when the tiles are being set in the adhesive used to secure same to the underlying substrate such as a wall. The spacing between the tiles, typically referred to as grout lines or joint area, is maintained uniform or adjusted to compensate for any differences in the size of adjacent tiles due to their irregularities which is often found in ceramic and marble type tiles.
In order to provide for proper tile spacing and to maintain same while the adhesive sets, there is frequently used removable tile spacers. For example, there is known rectangular spacers having a wedge shaped profile to provide a gradual taper. Other tile spacers known include the use of cylindrical pegs and X-shaped pieces. In the construction industry, there is used plastic shims for the alignment and leveling of a wide variety of architectural components, such as windows, doors and curtain walls. Shims, such as those available from Grove Products, Inc. of Leominster, Mass. come in a variety of sizes and shapes. For example, there is known U-shaped shim having gradually tapered wedge-shaped legs and those with legs of uniform thickness.
Despite the variety of shims and tile spacers available, these spacers suffer from a number of disadvantages which limit their usefulness in accommodating the installation of tiles where various tile spacings are required as, for example, when installing tiles of irregular dimension and when the joint area is greater than the single spacer dimension. For example, spacers of uniform thickness although being stackable for increased thickness, are limited to spacings in even multiples of their original thickness. The use of wedge shaped spacers, on the other hand, can only accommodate spacings up to a portion of their maximum thickness. Wedge-shaped spacers generally cannot be stacked to provide increased thickness if needed during tile installation. Thus, where non-uniform spacing is required, different types of uniform and wedge-shaped spacers must be separately purchased and combined in an attempt to provide the required spacing. As the uniform and wedge-shaped spacers are of different designs, it is difficult to combine them to adequately provide the range of spacings that may be required during tile installation.
Accordingly, it can be appreciated that there is an unsolved need for a universal spacer having both a uniform thickness portion and a wedge-shaped portion which may be stackable with one or more of such spaces to accommodate the desired spacing requirements during tile installation.